I just can't figure our dog out.
I've written about some of the problems we've had with Buddy. Namely that he'll occasionally gets a little too aggressive and he tries to assert dominance over me or Sunny.
Basically, about 99.9% of the time, Buddy thinks he's Little Billy Bad-Ass. Just this afternoon another dog dared to walk past the property while Buddy was chained up outside and he strained his leash pulling and barking to chase the other dog off. When he's been off his leash and strange dogs have come onto the property, he's charged and chased off four dogs at once.
The other 0.01% of the time…well…
About an hour ago, Buddy was lying down in the middle of the floor when something moved underneath the house. (We live in the country and it's not unusual in the winter for a family of Possums or Racoons to take up residence under our house). It's a weird acoustics thing, but when something moves under the house it can occasionally sound like something moving in the room with you. One time, two possums started fighting and running all over the place, and it sounded like there were a couple of very small, invisible dogs chasing each other up and down the living room.
So what did Buddy do upon hearing this sound come from the floor beneath him? Did he jump up, bare his teeth and growl? Did he get between the noise and me and Sunny? Did he leap into action, go on the defensive and make sure no intruders were in his house?
Not exactly...
He jumped up, whined, stared at the floor until he heard another noise and trotted into his room with his tail firmly between his legs. Once in his room, he poked his head around the door looking back into the living room…and then ducked back inside when he heard the noise again.
I honestly believe he's embarrassed when he does stuff like this. For example, when he ran into his room, he went just slow enough so we might mistake his running away for him just going for a drink…but fast enough so the invisible floor monsters wouldn't get him.
Also, a couple of months ago, Buddy was asleep by my feet while I was reading on my couch. The power suddenly went out, causing the sub-woofer from our surround sound system to make a very loud 'thump' noise from the power surge. Just as I put my book down and started to wonder if we had any candles, the power came back on.
What did I see?
Buddy sitting bolt upright, eyes really wide…on the couch right next to me. The power had been out for 10 seconds max. That's right, the power went out, there was a loud 'thump' noise…and my 'guard dog's' first instinct was to jump up on the couch next to me like a sissy girl who's just seen a mouse.
Yup, I have an aggressive dog who's desperate to get alpha status in our little 'pack'…but is also scared of the dark, loud noises and the squeakers from squeak-toys.
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